As today began and the search for the next devotional to read the words that came to mind were “no regrets”. As I consider the reality of the importance of being the dad God created me to be for my wife’s sake, my kids’ sake, and this world’s sake, living life as Jesus purposed to the full, more abundantly, and without regrets comes to mind. God created us for relationships! God created us to be in a relationship with Him! God created us to be in a relationship with our wives! God created us to be in a relationship with our kids! God created us to be in a relationship with others! So let’s be the dads who choose to live connected lives so that by being connected with God we can allow God’s love, plan, and purpose to flow into us and through us into the lives of our wives, our kids, and our world!
So with my usual search for the word “dad” and scrolling through a couple of pages, today’s devotional is going to be “Becoming A Connected Father” from Manhood Journey!
Scripture from Today’s Devotional:
‘ Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord]. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then] You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
God’s Word is so important and critical to being able to live our lives without regret! God’s Word is so important and critical to learning and knowing God’s Way, God’s Will, and God’s plan for our lives! Let’s make God’s Word, reading it, and meditating on it part of our daily schedule! Let’s prioritize our lives and how we spend our time and resources to make it clear that they have God first, our wives second, our kids third, and everything, and anything else has to come after that. That’s right, God is first, our marriage is second, and our families are third with everything else taking a distant fourth place at best!
Let’s be the dads who know that there is but one God! Let’s be the dads who by prioritizing God first choose to live our lives loving the Lord our God with all our [mind and] heart and with our entire being and with all our might! Let’s be the dads who focus on and meditate and chew on God’s Word as the top source of truth and love in our lives! Let’s be the dads who spend enough time in God’s Word that they are a part of us and can lead and guide us in every thought, word, and action we have or take! Let’s be the dads who allow God’s Word to help us transfer and teach our kids the importance of knowing and studying God’s Word and obeying His commands! Let’s be the dads who demonstrate in the way we live that God’s Word shouldn’t be segmented or a segment of our lives but rather is important enough to be a part of every aspect of our lives! Let’s be the dads who demonstrate in our marriage, our family, and our lives how important God’s Word is by talking about it! Let’s be the dads who demonstrate the reality of God’s Word everywhere we go, at home, at work, at church, in the community, and the promise and power that is found in it. Let’s be the dads who demonstrate the reality of God’s Word all the time, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, every moment throughout our days! Let’s be the dads who have reminders, bookmarks, signs, pointers, and markets that can remind us and point us back to God everywhere we go! Let’s be the dads who choose to put God’s Word first in all areas and aspects of our lives so that we can’t forget or miss out on what God’s got for us and is telling us in that very moment!
Today’s devotional has been provided by UNCOMMEN.
Reading through today’s devotional, here are some takeaways for me: (check out the devotional on your own too to see if you pick up other nuggets, and please share your findings in the comments)
This reading plan is a summary of many of the things taught in the full digital course called The Connected Father filled with videos, podcasts and downloadable tips and tools.
Becoming a Connected Father
Manhood Journey is a ministry who helps dads become disciple makers. We do this through various tools: blogs, eBooks, Field Guides, Bible studies, digital courses and live events.
For more information, please visit https://www.manhoodjourney.org/connectedfather.
Takeaways from Today’s Devotionals:
“Day 1: Introduction“
- Let’s be the dads who realize the importance of being connected!
- Let’s be the dads who realize the importance of being connected with our Heavenly Father!
- Let’s be the dads who realize the importance of being connected with our wives!
- Let’s be the dads who realize the importance of being connected with our kids!
- Let’s be the dads who want and choose to be confident dads!
- Let’s be the dads who want and choose to be godly dads!
- Let’s be the dads who lead our family without regret!
- Today’s devotional shares how this 8-day devotional from the YouVersion Bible provides a summary of a larger full digital course put on by Manhood Journey that incorporates videos, podcasts, and downloadable called The Connected Father!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives intentionally!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to love our wives and kids, raising our kids intentionally!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to live our lives in a way that will help our kids start and build a personal relationship with God!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to guard our wives and kids against evil!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to raise our kids to grow up to be strong men and women of God!
- Let’s be the dads who understand that in this world we will have troubles but that we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world!
- Let’s be the dads who understand that we will face trials in this life but that living connected to God, we can consider it pure joy, allowing our faith to grow, our perseverance to strengthen, and when perseverance completes its work find ourselves complete and lacking nothing! (James 1:2-4)
- Let’s be the dads who realize that this life may be difficult but walking it out with God will make it worth it!
- Let’s be the dads who realize because we know and study God’s Word that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that’s why we need Jesus!
- Let’s be the dads who don’t lose hope because we miss the mark but rather turn to God to help us overcome it!
- Romans 8:31-39 NIV – More Than Conquerors – Bible Gateway
- We Overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony… https://newlifenetwork.org/we-overcome-by-the-blood-of-the-lamb-and-the-word-of-our…
- 7 Scriptures For The Overcomer (theodysseyonline.com)
- 23 Bible verses about Overcomers – Knowing Jesus https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Overcomers
- 30 Best Bible Verses About Overcoming Struggles – Encouragin… https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/overcoming-bible-verses
- Today’s devotional shares about some of the dads they encounter as part of their ministry this way:
- Let’s be the dads who realize we aren’t alone!
- Let’s be the dads who realize that God never intended us to go through life alone!
- Let’s be the dads who lean in and trust God to help us thrive without regrets!
- Today’s devotional shares some interesting questions that dads wrestle with and that they are planning to address as part of this devotional:
- “How can I be the leader I know God wants me to be?”
- “How can I overcome my own failures as a dad and re-earn the trust of my wife and kids?”
- “How can I get my kids to open up to me and tell me what’s on their hearts and minds?”
- “How do I balance my time – making sure I give the right amounts to work, my wife, my kids, and other interests, hobbies, or volunteer projects?”
- “How do I train my kids well, helping them to lead a life that honors God?”
- Today’s devotional categorized challenges dads face and usually in parallel to varying degrees. Here are the three big bucket categories they will be teaching us over the coming days:
- “LEADERSHIP”
- Managing our time
- Setting the right example
- “COMMUNICATION”
- How to get our kids talking
- Learning how to listen and then being able to ask great questions
- “TRAINING”
- Boundaries
- Disrespect
- Setting clear expectations
- “LEADERSHIP”
- Today’s devotional shares how as part of this devotional we will learn two key strategies within each of these categories to help us grow as dads! (they also share that in the full class they 12 strategies in the full class)
- Today’s devotional shares how we can be the dads who take these six (6) strategies and use them right now, with practical stories and suggestions for implementing each one!
- So as we continue into the coming days of this devotional, let’s be the dads who choose to become the Connected Fathers that we want to become and God wants us to be!
- Reference link: Check out the full course here: The Connected Father.
